Constructed non-dairy creams

ABSTRACT

A constructed non-dairy ice cream is prepared by making an aqueous emulsion of a flavorful non-dairy fat composition, dispersing an emulsion stabilizer in the aqueous emulsion, warming the stabilized emulsion to a sub-boiling temperature, and then freezing the emulsion to a temperature below a melting point of the flavorful non-dairy fat composition.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to and claims the benefit of the earliest available effective filing date(s) from the following listed application(s) (the “Related Applications”) (e.g., claims earliest available priority dates for other than provisional patent applications or claims benefits under 35 USC §119(e) for provisional patent applications, for any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc. applications of the Related Application(s)). All subject matter of the Related Applications and of any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, etc. applications of the Related Applications is incorporated herein by reference to the extent such subject matter is not inconsistent herewith.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the present application claims benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/458,057, entitled Constructed Creams naming Maxime Bilet et al. as inventors, filed 16 Nov. 2010, which was filed within the twelve months preceding the filing date of the present application, or is an application of which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date.

Further, the present application is a continuation of U.S. Patent Application No. ______, entitled Constructed Creams Based on Animal Fats naming Maxime Jean Jerome Bilet, Grant Lee Crilly and Nathan P. Myhrvold as inventors, filed on even date.

The United States Patent Office (USPTO) has published a notice to the effect that the USPTO's computer programs require that patent applicants reference both a serial number and indicate whether an application is a continuation or continuation-in-part. Stephen G. Kunin, Benefit of Prior-Filed Application, USPTO Official Gazette Mar. 18, 2003, available at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/og/2003/week11/patbene.htm. The present Applicant Entity (hereinafter “Applicant”) has provided above a specific reference to the application(s) from which priority is being claimed as recited by statute. Applicant understands that the statute is unambiguous in its specific reference language and does not require either a serial number or any characterization, such as “continuation” or “continuation-in-part,” for claiming priority to U.S. patent applications. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Applicant understands that the USPTO's computer programs have certain data entry requirements, and hence Applicant is designating the present application as a continuation-in-part of its parent applications as set forth above, but expressly points out that such designations are not to be construed in any way as any type of commentary and/or admission as to whether or not the present application contains any new matter in addition to the matter of its parent application(s).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates, in general, to culinary science and food preparation technology. In particular, the application relates to constructed creams.

DESCRIPTION

Attention is directed to techniques for making or constructing creams from animal and/or vegetable fats. The constructed creams may include dairy preparations or may exclusively include only non-dairy preparations. Exemplary creams may have exhibit stability over a wide temperature range (e.g., −15° C. to boiling). Exemplary creams may be suitable for preparing and serving as ice creams.

Constructed creams may be prepared using the techniques described herein starting with vegetable-based oils without any animal products. Soy milk and other nut milks are readily available, usually as infusions made from ground nuts or seeds. In contrast, the techniques herein are used to make constructed cream from the oils alone without requiring a high-protein ingredient like soy. The “vegetable-based” constructed creams describe herein may allow individuals to conform to dietary restrictions on use of animal products.

The techniques described herein use suitable emulsifiers to prepare creams based on “vegetable” oils (e.g. hazel nut, virgin olive oil, toasted-sesame seed oil, etc.). With pistachio oil, the techniques are used to prepare a non-dairy ice cream (gelato) with no dairy to get in the way of the pistachio flavor.

Alternatively, the techniques can be used to prepare constructed creams from non-milk animal fat meat (e.g., rendered veal, pork or bacon fat).

In either case of constructed creams based on non-animal or non-dairy fats, it will be understood that the constructed creams may be combined with dairy products for making food servings. For example a pistachio-oil based non-dairy constructed cream may be combined suitable dairy products to make a pistachio flavored dairy-based ice cream.

A newspaper article, Chang, Kenneth; “After Microsoft, Bringing a High-Tech Eye to Professional Kitchens,” New York Times, Nov. 17, 2009, is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Dairy creams are natural O/W emulsions composed of droplets of butterfat stabilized with naturally occurring protein emulsifiers. A Modernist chef does not have to limit herself to natural animal milks, because, with a bit of effort and the right emulsifier, any fat can be turned into a “cream.” We have made dense, rich creams from flavorful oils such as hazelnut, but something similar works for extra-virgin olive oil, toasted-sesame oil, and other flavorful oils. In the case of pistachios, one can use this technique to make a rich gelato with no dairy to get in the way of the pistachio flavor. Soy milk and other nut milks have been around a long time, usually as infusions made from ground nuts or seeds. The constructed creams are quite different, because they can be made from the oil alone and do not require a high-protein ingredient like soy. One reason to make these constructed creams is to ease past dietary restrictions; if you start with a vegetable-based oil, you can make faux “creams” without any animal products. A very different approach to constructed creams is to make an animal fat “cream” that never passed through a teat. Our veal “cream” uses rendered veal fat with veal stock to create a cream that is much deeper in flavor than dairy cream. Similar creams can be made with rendered pork fat or even bacon fat. Perhaps our favorite emulsion is jus gras. Savory jus and flavorful, rendered fats are emulsified into a stable, meaty sauce with the silky richness of beurre blanc or hollandaise. When made with rendered chicken fat; it is an all-chicken “cream” from an animal that never produced milk. Something similar can be done with fish oils.

In general, constructed creams may be prepared by preparing an aqueous emulsion of oils/fats. Suitable food emulsifiers may be added to a fat/aqueous mixture. Emulsion stabilizers and/or surfactants may be added. Further, tastants (e.g., sugar, salt, acids) may be optionally added. Functional ingredients (e.g. pH controlling agents) also may be optionally added. The mixture may optionally be aged before emulsification. Any suitable technique for emulsifying or homogenizing the mixture (e.g., pressure, ultrasound, or other mechanical technique) may be used to achieve desired fat droplet size distributions (e.g., micron size distributions) for the constructed cream.

A method for preparing a constructed non-dairy ice cream includes, preparing an aqueous emulsion of a flavorful fat composition using suitable food emulsifiers, dispersing an emulsion stabilizer and/or surfactants in the aqueous emulsion, warming the emulsion to temperature substantially less than the boiling point of water, and freezing the emulsion to a temperature below a melting point of the flavorful fat composition.

A method for preparing a constructed non-dairy cream, includes dry blending a mixture of food agents, dispersing the mixture into cold water (e.g., to prepare a hydrocollodial system), warming the water-dispersed mixture to a temperature substantially less than the boiling point of water, combining a flavorful fat composition to the water-dispersed mixture and emulsifying the combination, and reserving the emulsified combination for later use as a cream. A suitable surfactant may be optionally added to the mixture at any stage.

A method for preparing a constructed cream includes combining a water and flavorful oil/fat, adding tastants (e.g., sugars, salts, acids), adding an emulsifier or combination of emulsifiers, an emulsion stabilizer such as a hydrocolloid, and optionally a suitable surfactant. The combination is heat treated either before or after mechanical emulsification to achieve pasteurization and to hydrate the hydrocolloid stabilizers as necessary. The combination can be reserved for later use.

A method for preparing a constructed animal fat cream includes preparing cooked animal stock or jus, dispersing a mixture of food agents into the jus, combining a rendered animal fat composition to the jus-dispersed mixture and emulsifying the combination, and reserving the emulsified combination for later use as a cream. The method may optionally include adding an emulsifier and/or hydrocolloid stabilizer to the mixture at any suitable stage, and may involve warming or heating the preparation at suitable intermediate stages.

The following EXAMPLES I-III illustrate preparation and composition of exemplary constructed creams.

EXAMPLE I

Pistachio Gelato Yields: 1.1 kg Ingredient Quantity Scaling Procedure Water  680 g  100% 1. Blend together until smooth. Pistachio butter  210 g 30.8% Sugar  155 g 22.8% Pistachio oil  102 g   15% Locust bean gum   3 g 0.44% 2. Dry blend and disperse into pistachio mixture. Lambda carrageenan   2 g  0.3% 3. Warm to 60° C./140° F. Polysorbate 80  0.8 g 0.12% 4. Homogenize until very smooth and cool. Glycerol monostearate 0.15 g 0.02% 5. Churn and reserve in freezer, or freeze in Pacojet container and pacotize for service.

EXAMPLE II

Hazelnut Cream Yields 350 g Ingredient Quantity Scaling Procedure Water  250 g  100%  1. Dry blend hydrocolloids. Tapioca starch 11.2 g 4.48%  2. Disperse into cold water. Whey protein isolate   6 g  2.4%  3. Homogenize thoroughly with commercial blender or rotor- stator homogenizer, if available Acetic acid  0.5 g  0.2% Polysorbate 80  0.4 g 0.16%  4. Warm to 85° C./185° F., and hold mixture and temperature. Xanthan gum 0.16 0.06% Roasted hazelnut oil   80 g   32%  5. Warm oil to 85° C./185° F.  6. Drizzle into hot water mixture while shearing at full speed, until fully emulsified.  7. Cool hazelnut cream. Salt to taste  8. Season cream and vacuum seal.  9. Refrigerate until use. 10. Can be served hot or cold.

EXAMPLE III

JUS GRAS Yields 280 g Ingredient Quantity Scaling Procedure Shallots, minced  80 g   40% 1. Sauté shallots until golden, about 5 min. Neutral oil  20 g   10% Fino sherry 100 g   50% 2. Add to pan of sautéed shallots. White port (dry)  50 g   25% 3. Reduce mixture to glaze. Brown chicken stock 450 g  225% 4. Combine with glaze in pot. Sous vide chicken juice 200 g  100% 5. Reduce to 200 g and strain. Reduced chicken stock, from 200 g  100% 6. Mix to form jus. above 7. Incorporate fully with rotor-stator homogenizer or by other method. Propylene glycol alginate  0.3% (Protanal Ester BV 4830, FMC BioPolymer brand) Liquid soy lecithin (NOW  0.2% brand) Xanthan gum  0.2% Rendered chicken fat, or  80 g   40% 8. Drizzle slowly into jus, blending constantly to emulsify, as for butter, melted mayonnaise. Salt to taste 9. Season. Lemon Juice to taste (% of total combined weight of reduced chicken stock and rendered chicken fat)

The methods and compositions described herein may be used to prepare heat stable constructed creams (e.g., creams that are stable over a wide temperature range from about −15 C to about boiling).

It will be understood that the descriptions of various aspects and embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration only, and are not intended to be limiting the true scope and spirit of this disclosure. 

1. A method for preparing a constructed non-dairy ice cream, comprising: preparing an aqueous emulsion of a flavorful fat composition; dispersing an emulsion stabilizer in the aqueous emulsion; warming the emulsion to temperature substantially less than the boiling point of water; and freezing the emulsion to a temperature below a melting point of the flavorful fat composition.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, aerating the emulsion before or during the freezing.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein warming the emulsion further comprises homogenizing the emulsion to smooth and cool it before freezing.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein warming the emulsion comprises warming the emulsion to about 60° C.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the flavorful fat composition has a melting range between about −1° C. and −10° C.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the flavorful fat composition has a melting range between about −1° C. and +10° C.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the flavorful fat composition comprises oils and/or butters derived from pistachio nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, olives, pecans, macadamia nut, pumpkin seeds, and/or sesame seeds.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the flavorful fat composition comprises one or more of rendered animal fat, rendered veal fat, rendered pork fat, rendered bacon fat, rendered reindeer fat, rendered chicken fat, and/or fish oil.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein emulsifying the flavorful fat composition comprises emulsifying the flavorful fat composition to a droplet size distribution having a peak at about 3 microns.
 10. The method of claim 1, dispersing an emulsion stabilizer comprises dispersing one of carrageenan, locust bean gum, guar gum, xanthan gum, sodium alginate, carboxy methyl cellulose, hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose, hydroxy propyl cellulose, propylene glycol alginate, modified cellulose, starch, protein, or any combination thereof.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein dispersing an emulsion stabilizer comprises dispersing in a dry blend of carrageenan, locust bean gum, polysorbate 80, and glycerol monostearate.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein preparing an aqueous emulsion comprises dispersing an emulsifier such as polysorbate 80, mono or di-glycerides, locust bean gum, gelatin, or any combination thereof.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein preparing an aqueous emulsion of a nut fat composition further comprises mixing a tastant in the emulsion.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the tastant comprises sugar, salt, an acidity source, or a taste-modifying compound such as microcrystalline cellulose.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein preparing an aqueous emulsion of a nut fat composition further comprises mixing pH control agent in the emulsion.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the pH control agent comprises one of citric acid, acetic acid, a food grade acid, or any combination thereof.
 17. The food serving prepared by the method of claim
 1. 18. A method for preparing a constructed non-dairy cream, comprising: dry blending a mixture of food agents; dispersing the mixture into cold water; warming the water-dispersed mixture to a temperature substantially less than the boiling point of water; combining a flavorful fat composition to the water-dispersed mixture and emulsifying the combination; and reserving the emulsified combination for later use as a cream.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the mixture of food agents comprises one or more of water, a starch, a protein, a food grade acid, an emulsion stabilizer, a surfactant, and/or any combination thereof.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the mixture of food agents comprises one or more of carrageenan, locust bean gum, guar gum, xanthan gum, sodium alginate, carboxy methyl cellulose, hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose, hydroxy propyl cellulose, propylene glycol alginate, modified cellulose, and any combination thereof.
 21. The method of claim 18, wherein the mixture of food agents comprises one or more of water, a starch, a whey protein isolate, acetic acid, and xanthan gum.
 22. The method of claim 18, wherein the mixture of food agents comprises one or more of water, a tapioca starch, a whey protein isolate, citric acid, propylene glycol alginate, soy lecithin and xanthan gum.
 23. The method of claim 18, wherein dispersing the hydrocolloidal mixture into cold water further comprises homogenizing the dispersion with a blender, a rotor-stator homogenizer, an ultrasonic homogenizer, or ultrahigh pressure homogenizer.
 24. The method of claim 18, wherein warming the water-dispersed mixture comprises warming the water-dispersed mixture to about 85° C.
 25. The method of claim 18, wherein the flavorful fat composition has a melting range between about −1° C. and −20° C.
 26. The method of claim 18, wherein the flavorful fat composition has a melting range between about −1° C. and +20° C.
 27. The method of claim 18, wherein the flavorful fat composition comprises oils and/or butters derived from pistachio nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, olives, pecans, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds, and/or sesame seeds.
 28. The method of claim 18, wherein the flavorful fat composition comprises one or more of rendered animal fat, rendered veal fat, rendered pork fat, rendered bacon fat, rendered reindeer fat, rendered chicken fat, and/or fish oil.
 29. The method of claim 18, wherein combining a flavorful fat composition to the water-dispersed mixture comprises first warming the flavorful fat composition to about a same temperature as the water-dispersed mixture.
 30. The method of claim 18, wherein combining a flavorful fat composition to the water-dispersed mixture comprises first warming the flavorful fat composition to about 85° C.
 31. The method of claim 18, wherein emulsifying the combination comprises emulsifying the flavorful fat composition to a droplet size distribution having a peak at about 3 microns.
 32. The method of claim 18, wherein emulsifying the combination comprises shearing the combination.
 33. The method of claim 18, wherein reserving the emulsified combination for later use as a cream comprises vacuum sealing the emulsified combination.
 34. The method of claim 18, wherein reserving the emulsified combination for later use as a cream comprises adding a tastant as desired.
 35. The method of claim 34, wherein the tastant comprises sugar, salt, an acidity source, or a taste-modifying compound such as microcrystalline cellulose.
 36. The method of claim 18, wherein reserving the emulsified combination for later use as a cream comprises refrigerating the emulsified combination.
 37. The food serving prepared by the method of claim
 18. 